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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Kentucky Congressman John Yarmuth, Chairman of the House Budget Committee, issued the following statement on the release of a report he requested earlier this year from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on design and policy considerations for the development of a single-payer health system:

“Last summer, I promised that if I became Chairman of the House Budget Committee I would hold hearings on single-payer health care. To jump start that process, I immediately requested this report from the CBO to help us examine the important policy considerations associated with single-payer health systems and their potential impact on the federal budget, national health care spending, and access to care.

“I thank the CBO for their work on this, and I look forward to reading this report and thoroughly examining it in detail with our committee members at a hearing later this month. The fact remains that we have made immense progress in the past ten years, yet access to quality and affordable health care is still too often out of reach for families and hardworking Americans across the country. We must do more, which is why I believe it is no longer a matter of if we will have a single-payer health care system in our country, but when. I hope this report and upcoming hearings help advance that timeline.”